Named after G.B. Brocchi an Italian student of biology and geology (1772–1826).
Medium to very large plants. Leaves in a rosette, large; sheaths large but mainly indistinct; blades linear or narrowly triangular, usually entire. Scape conspicuous. Inflorescence compound. Flowers minute; sepals free; petals free, naked; stamens included.
Brocchinia micrantha has small flowers but reaches 8 m high on flowering; it is not cultivated in Australia.
About 21 species from Venezuela, Colombia, Guyana and northern Brazil.
Source: (2005). Bromeliaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
